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This is not a drill. California is poised to lose the Western monarch butterfly and its mysterious annual migration from the continent’s Western regions to the coastal areas between Baja and Mendocino.
The list for blame is long habitat destruction, insecticides, herbicides and, yes, good intentions, because if you’ve ever planted a showy orange and red milkweed in Southern California with the goal of helping the monarch, consider yourself part of the problem.
So why should we care? First off, caterpillars are a critical food source for most songbirds, which rely heavily on the insects to feed their young. Second, butterflies, like bees, are important pollinators. Adult monarchs sip nectar from many blossoms, and as they flit among flowers, they are also spreading pollen, helping the plants produce seeds, which also feed birds and other wildlife and, of course, help the plant reproduce. ....

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